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Lightning HDA OTL


aghourab

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Hello All,

Just thought I'd post a VEX based Lightning HDA (OTL) I made for one of my course modules. I'm still working on adding some extra functionality to it in my spare time (e.g. point cloud to point cloud lightning, shadow promotion).

The lightning is basically a set of curves with a custom fBm noise applied to it.

Branches are dynamically created/destroyed then reallocated in a sop solver.

Targeting is point cloud based. You feed it some painted geometry, the lightning curve will then snap to the closest point with a charge (e.g. grey - white), deplete the color at every frame, then snap to the next nearest point with a charge.

There's a fair few controls in their that allows you to control the look/definition/rendering of the lightning. So have a play. Also included are three example scenes, and a manual if you don't know what parameter does what:)I'll be posting a little video tutorial on it next week for fun...

Enjoy, and feedback, suggested functionality appreciated!

Cheers

Ahmad

Sample Video -> http://vimeo.com/25426370 (Scene Geometry provided by Ravi Acharya)

attachment=12326:lightningRender.jpg

post-3208-130869235908_thumb.jpg

AG_Lightning.zip

Edited by aghourab
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Wicked man, well done.

I'll take a look at the scene properly tomorrow. I have an old scene we used on a recent film that was based of LSystems and at one point was midi triggered. I've been wondering if it could be simplified with the SOP solver...

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Thanks gies:)

ChristianW -> If were thinking of the same film, and the same Midi triggered shot, then that is pretty much the same scene that inspired me. I tried to give the lightning OTL the functionality that would make replicating that shot possible (or so I hope).

Edited by aghourab
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;)

The only crit I'd say is I don't think the bolts are expanding out as they connect.

Good point actually. Data exists detailing the life/lifespan of each branch, so I guess I could actually add that. Thanks :)

There was also one more feature I never got round to, rigging the main lightning curve (Like Maya's default Lightning), just for an added extra bit of control.

Edited by aghourab
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This is amazing. I will have to spend some time digging through it to figure out how it all works. Great job.

Thanks Adam! It's not really all that complex when you break it down (esp not the targeting bit). As mentioned previously, I'll have a (or maybe 2) video 'tutorials' detailing its use and explaining the way the underlying system works.

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Thanks Adam! It's not really all that complex when you break it down (esp not the targeting bit). As mentioned previously, I'll have a (or maybe 2) video 'tutorials' detailing its use and explaining the way the underlying system works.

Do you have any links to those? I haven't gotten into point cloud work and i would love to get some more information.

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Do you have any links to those? I haven't gotten into point cloud work and i would love to get some more information.

Sorry, what I meant to say was I'll have them uploaded this week. But in the mean time if you make the lightning HDA editable, dive into PC_TARGET_GEN, you'll find sticky notes that explain how the point cloud targetting works. Dive into initial_state, process_geo and post_process in that order (sop solver template like those posted by pclaes), you'll find the VEX code commented, and some more sticky notes to explain what's happenning! If you have any questions, please let me know:)

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Ok, thanks. I am looking forward to learning how to do this stuff. My understanding of most of this stuff is still so novice. I am learning fast though. I have found that writing my own tutorials seems to help cement things in my head. I will probably figure out something cool once I get these point clouds down and write one for them.

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Ok, thanks. I am looking forward to learning how to do this stuff. My understanding of most of this stuff is still so novice. I am learning fast though. I have found that writing my own tutorials seems to help cement things in my head. I will probably figure out something cool once I get these point clouds down and write one for them.

I did a presentation on VEX / SOP solvers / Point clouds. I've attached the draft speech (please, for the love of god, don't take anything on that for fact without double checking, as it was fairly early/messy/innacurate draft).

If you skip to the end bit "A Trivial Example", have a gander, its a fairly simple example of VEX + sop solver + point clouds. Also included are the presentation file (should be accurate), and the trivial example hipnc/OTL.

PC_SS_VEX.zip

Edited by aghourab
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Hey Ahmad,

thanks for sharing your tool with the community and great work!

I actually stepped back a bit from that initial_state/process/post_process setup as there is a bit of overhead involved because it cooks the initial state on the first frame. It is nice to have it all packaged up in one place (and it makes sense to do it that way as it makes it easier to learn/understand --similar to some of Maya's way of thinking), but you are better off doing your initial_state and post_process in sops as it does not need to recook. You can't tell the difference in small scenes as the initial state tends to cook quickly, but when you are starting to deal with processing massive amounts of geometry it can take a while.

Good luck with you master project!

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  • 2 years later...

hey all, hate to drag up and old thread but has anyone tried opening this in 12.5? for some reason it crashes on my system after scrubing just a couple of frames or adjusting any parameters.

any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated even just to know if someone else encounters the same issue.

thanks in advance!

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